Morocco suspends Al-Jazeera operations indefinitely

New York, November 1, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Moroccan authorities' decision to indefinitely suspend Al-Jazeera's reporting in Morocco. The government withdrew accreditations from Al-Jazeera staff. CPJ calls on the Ministry of Communications to rescind its decision.

On Friday, the Ministry of Communications accused Al-Jazeera
of not following "the rules of responsible and serious journalistic work." According
to a statement,
published by the official Moroccan News Agency, the ministry conducted "a comprehensive
assessment" of Al-Jazeera's news reports and programs on Morocco and found that
its coverage "seriously distorted Morocco's image and manifestly damaged its
interests, most notably its territorial integrity"--an allusion to Western
Sahara, a territory in dispute between Morocco and the Algerian-backed
Polisario Front. The statement added that the station was determined to
broadcast only a negative image of the
country in a deliberate effort to minimize "Morocco's efforts in all aspects of
development and reform projects and to deliberately belittle its achievements
and progress on democracy and human rights."

"We are alarmed by Morocco's decision to censor
newsgathering by this pan-Arab satellite news channel," said Mohamed Abdel
Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "We call on the
Moroccan Ministry of Communications to lift Al-Jazeera's suspension and restore
all accreditations."

On Saturday, Al-Jazeera issued a statement
reiterating its commitment to "an editorial policy based on the principal of
providing alternate opinions," adding that its "coverage of Moroccan
issues has always been professional, balanced and accurate."

Abdel Qader Kharroubi, Al-Jazeera's bureau chief in Rabat, told
Agence France-Presse that the station "has always respected the rule of
professionalism and neutrality, particularly in Morocco." He told
the Lebanese daily As-Safir that the decision to suspend the station's
operations does not mean the permanent closure of the office. "We will stay in
touch with the Communications Ministry in an effort to rescind the decision. We
will not leave Morocco but we will work with all our capabilities to resume
coverage."

London-based Elaph news website reported
today that there are ongoing negotiations between Al-Jazeera and the Ministry
of Communications to lift the suspension.

Earlier this year, two Al-Jazeera journalists, Mohammed
al-Baqali and Anas ben Saleh, among other journalists, were not allowed to
renew their accreditation despite having completed all the paper work, CPJ
research shows.The case of the two Al-Jazeera reporters is
due to be heard next month in court. In 2008, Hassan Rachidi, Al-Jazeera's
Morocco bureau chief at the time, was convicted
and fined for "disseminating false information" in connection to Al-Jazeera's
reporting on social unrest in the southern port city of Sidi Ifni in June of
that year.